Project Report-Dhruv Srivastava

Summer Internship 2010

Increasing Rural visibility at low cost

Apr-May 2010

DHRUV SRIVASTAVA

PGDM 2009-11

Roll No. 038

Birla Institute of

Management Technology




Summer Project Certificate

This is to certify that Mr. Dhruv Srivastava, Roll No. 038, a student of PGDM has worked

on his summer project titled “Reaching Rural Customers at low cost to enhance

the brand awareness and visibility” at Idea Cellular Pvt. Ltd. after trimester-III

in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the programme. This is his original work to the

best of my knowledge.

Date: __________ Signature ___________

Seal: Name of Faculty________



Acknowledgement

I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to all those who have contributed significantly by

sharing their knowledge and experience in the completion of this project work.

I am extremely grateful to Mr. Ashit Singh, Head- Marketing Communications, my industry guide for being

supportive and for taking out time to help me during my project. His mentorship has set an example for me.

I would also like to thank the entire Marketing Communication team for their continuous support and

motivation which helped me a lot in completing this project.

I am highly indebted to Professor R.J. Masilamani, my Faculty Guide, under whose able guidance this

project was carried out. I thank him for his continuous support, guidance, help and mentoring before, during

the tenure & after completion of the project.

Yours faithfully

Dhruv Srivastava

09DM038

PGM 2009-11

Birla Institute of Management Technology



Table of Contents

S.No. Topic Page No.

1 Executive Summary 5

2 Company background 6

3 Telecommunications Industry-Indian

Perspective 7

4 Review of Literature 12

4 Latest Data & Statistics 15

5 Project Objective & Methodology 17

6

Field Visit Observations

i. Jalgaon & Buldhana

ii. Solapur

iii. Nashik

18

7 Survey findings 33

8 Recommendations 36

9 References 40

10 Appendix-I (Survey Questionnaire) 41



Executive Summary

About 70 % of the country‟s 1.1 billion consumers live in rural India where about half of the national income

is generated. India‟s steady economic growth in the last few years has led to a rapid increase in its rural

market size and has attracted the interest of telecom service provider companies the world over.

Unexpectedly strong demand for cheap cell-phones in recent years revealed the untapped markets in India's

villages and slums. Thanks to $20 cell-phones and two-cent-a-minute call rates, Indian cellphone companies

are signing up more than five million new subscribers a month, most of them consumers no one would have

considered serving only five years ago.

Various marketing communications methods/initiatives have come up in the recent times to reach and attract

the end consumer/customer resulting in increased brand salience for the organization in the market. Major

modes of marketing communication options include Media advertising (Television, Newspaper, Radio,

Magazines), Place & Outdoor advertising (Bulletins, Bill boards, Cinema, Posters), POP (Shelf talkers,

shopping cart ads, Aisle markers, In-store radio or TV), Event Sponsorships etc. It is increasingly required for

the telecom service provider to have an appropriate and sharp communication mix for both the Urban & Rural

markets as they are very distinct in nature.

To visit and survey the rural hinterland of the state of Maharashtra gave me an important insight into the

nuances of rural telecom growth story. It made me realise the high growth rate potential in the rural

consumers as the positive effects of a catapulting economy trickle down to the poor.

As a part of the project the following objective had to fulfilled:

To identify the changing media consumption habits of rural customers (Maharashtra & Goa

circle) and help Idea Cellular target their marketing communication mix more effectively.

Recommend new and innovative communication mediums apart from those already in use by

Idea cellular to increase the brand awareness amongst the rural customers.



Company Background

Idea Cellular is an Aditya Birla Group Company, India‟s first truly multinational corporation. The

group operates in 25 countries, and is anchored by over 1, 30,000 employees belonging to 30

nationalities. The Group has been adjudged the „6th

Top Company for Leaders in Asia Pacific Region‟

in a survey conducted by Hewitt Associates, in partnership with The RBL Group, and Fortune. The

Group has also been rated „The Best Employer in India and among the Top 20 in Asia‟ by the Hewitt-

Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.

Idea Cellular is a publicly listed company, having listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the

National Stock Exchange (NSE) in March 2007.

Idea Cellular is a leading GSM mobile services operator in India with over 62 million subscribers,

under brand Idea. It is a pan India integrated GSM operator covering the entire telephony landscape of

the country, and has NLD and ILD operations.

A front runner in introducing revolutionary tariff plans, Idea Cellular has the distinction of offering the

most customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid offerings, for the first time in India, in an increasingly

segmented market. From basic voice & Short messaging Service (SMS) services to high-end value

added & GPRS services such as Blackberry, Data card, Mobile TV, Games etc- Idea is seen as an

innovative, customer focus brand.

Idea offers affordable and world-class mobile services to varied segments of mobile users. Be it high

end, or low-end, price sensitive consumers – Idea‟s tariff plans are designed to suit every pocket. With a

vision of delighting its customers while meeting their individual communication needs anytime,

anywhere, Idea offers seamless coverage to roaming customers travelling to any part of the country, as

well as to international travelling customers across 200 countries. Idea Cellular has partnership with

over 400 operators to ensure that customers are always connected while on the move, within the country

or other parts of the world.

Idea is the winner of „The Emerging Company of the Year Award‟ at the Economic Times Corporate

Excellence Awards 2008-09. The company has received several other national and international

recognitions for its path-breaking innovations in mobile telephony products & services. It won the GSM

Association Award for “Best Billing and Customer Care Solution” for 2 consecutive years. It was

awarded “Mobile Operator of the Award – India” for 2007 and 2008 at the Annual Asian Mobile News

Awards.



Telecommunications Industry in India

India is among the fastest growing mobile markets in the world: India, the second largest mobile market

in the world, is also among the fastest growing mobile markets globally. The total number of mobile

subscribers in India (i.e., the subscriber base) has increased from 6.4 million in March 2002 to around

350 million in December 2008, at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 81%, aided by a

significant increase in network coverage and a continual decline in tariffs and handset prices.



India, a relatively late entrant into mobile services, has benefited from a significant decline in mobile

network costs during the last three to four years. As compared with a capital cost of US$50-90/subscriber

to provide mobile service, it costs as much as US$200-350/subscriber to provide fixed-line services. This

and the added benefit of mobility have led to stagnation in the total fixed line subscriber base, which along

with the significant growth in the mobile base has translated into India having one of the highest ratios

globally of mobile subscribers to total telecom subscribers.

Despite the growth, mobile penetration remains moderate:

As on end September 2008, India had a mobile penetration of around 27%, which is relatively lower as

compared to other countries as depicted in Chart 2.

Given the moderate penetration levels at present, mobile growth in India is expected to continue in the

short to medium term albeit at a lower level because of the larger base effect.

Growth expected to be led by B and C Class circles:

The growth in the domestic telecom industry has largely been concentrated in the Metros and Class A

circles in the past decade, with coverage reaching around 90% and 35%, respectively. However,

coverage in the Class B and Class C cities is still low at 15-25%.

Moreover, within these circles growth has largely been concentrated in the urban areas while penetration



in the rural areas remains lower. Thus future growth is likely to come largely from Class B and C circles and

rural areas. Keeping this in view, larger players like Bharti Airtel Limited, Reliance Communications Limited,

and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) are largely focusing on increasing their geographical coverage in

Class B and C circles.

Addition of low usage subscribers and competitive pressures lead to fall in ARPUs: With growth

coming from the lower economic strata and on account of strong competition in the mobile industry,

average revenues per user (ARPUs) have moved south over the years. The movements in the ARPUs

and minutes of usage (MoUs) for global system for mobile communications (GSM) and code division

multiple access (CDMA) operators are presented in Charts 5 and 6.



Conservation of capital

In the past, with costs being amortised over a larger base and steps being taken to rationalize costs, most

telecom operators were able to improve their earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation

(EBITDA) margins. However, in the current market conditions, the margins and return indicators may come

under pressure as ARPUs continue to fall.

The chart broadly illustrates the impact of declining ARPUs on the internal rate of return (IRR) at different

EBDITA margins. Thus, for new operators especially whose margins are low because of the high set-up

costs, operations can be unviable at the current level of incremental ARPUs.



Competition set to intensify further with market liberalization:

The Indian mobile sector is an intensely competitive industry, featuring 10 mobile operators of which

four, namely Bharti Airtel Limited, Reliance Communications Limited, Vodafone Essar Limited and

BSNL together account for almost three-fourths of the entire mobile market share. This is also the partly

on account of the fact that these operators have their presence in a larger number of circles as compared

with other players. With licences being granted to some of the existing operators for new circles and also

to new entrants, competition is expected to intensify further.

This is also leading to increasing load on the existing infrastructure of towers and stations. With most tower

companies like Indus towers being joint ventures between the competing cellular service providers, the

sharing of the cost is also going to determine the future profitability of the companies.



Review of Literature

A lot has been written and talked about the under-utilized potential of our rural hinterland. With the economy

catapulting at 7-8% growth rate for the last 6-7 years, Rural India has become the starry eyed boy of corporate

India. I particularly liked one quote by Mr. Adi Godrej

“The rural customer is discerning and the rural market is vibrant. At the current rate of growth, it will soon

outstrip the urban market. The rural market is not sleeping any longer. We are.”

A lot of articles by eminent thinkers of our country helped me in sharpening the focus for my project at the

outset. One such article was Dr. Tapan K Panda who is a faculty member at the Indian Institute of

Management, Lucknow. According to him, Indian marketers have been trying to consolidate their brands in

the rural markets of India for long now. The estimate speaks of the potential volume of business that can be

generated in Indian Rural markets. The estimate is about three times that of the European Market. Yet there

has not been substantial progress in this area. The reasons are well known. The rural market is typically a

seasonal market. The consumption level goes high in post monsoon and dries up during non-crop period. The

unit disposable consumption level is very low and the assortment has to be made in a different size compared

to the urban market to make it suitable for the rural customer‟s pocket. Multiplicity of assortment adds up to

the cost level of the product and works against adding experience effect to the production. Furthermore the

distributed settlement and high transportation cost makes it potentially less feasible for many companies to

launch products for rural consumption.

Another article by Mr. Rahul Mirchandani, Executive Director, Aries Agro Vet Industries Ltd and now a

faculty with the NMIMS University, Mumbai talks about evolving a new marketing mix for selling to rural



India. He mentions the fact that 1 in 8 people on earth Indian belonging rural India. He also talks about a

study that revealed that the average rural customer takes approximately 2 years to decide on buying a watch.

It must be remembered that rural customer does not have a budget problem. He has a cash problem. This is

because the village folk receive funds only twice a year. At these times, he is capable of making high volume

purchases. At all times, however the unit price is critical and so is the pack size. Because of this, in the lean

season when there is a cash flow crunch, marketers need to provide financial products, schemes or solutions

that suit the needs of the rural population.

The Joint Publicity Committee of the nationalized banks started advertising through mobile van publicity in

early 90s in the rural markets of India. It is a potential tool for reaching customers but how do we do that? The

best would be to make an announcement in the village about a show of some religious and holy films in the

local language and in between we can carry the message to the audience. Rural advertising strategy is not only

important for those who are planning for a brand promotion in the rural market but also for the existing

players in the businesses like tractors, pesticides, fertilizers. Conventional media like television and radio

covers some of the areas but still 265 million are beyond the catch of advertisers through the available

vehicles! Even though there is a reach to the villages but how many of them have the rural electricity to run

the shows! The rural audience may have the purchase parity to be a potential customer but his idea of

consumption and behavior as a consumer is completely different. So the vehicle as well as the message has to

be in the liking of the rural customer. Corporations and advertising agencies have started working out in this

area. The puppet shows in Punjab, Folk media like Ragini in Haryana for communicating qualities of Virat

cement, Pala and Daskathia in Orissa for promoting safe electricity consumption and tooth pastes of Colgate

Palmolive, Baul songs in West Bengal for advertising insecticides are some of the examples.

Britannia has entered in to the rural market by participating in rural melas and displaying its down market

brand Britannia Tiger Biscuits. These rural melas and weekly haats have become more popular medium of

rural advertising by the media planners. Through this arrangement they can break the saddle of scant

geographical distribution of customers in rural markets as people of number of villages assemble together to

participate in the fair. It is a good ground for brand awareness building, trial sales and sampling. It provides a

wider audience at a fairly low cost. Companies like HLL, Titan and Colgate Palmolive use festivals like

Rathyatra, Kumbhmela, and Onam for brand promotion. These companies are following a typical media

schedule and are always in a march from one place to the other with our festival calendar and a collapsible

arrangement of the exhibition setup. Companies can also use popular forms of entertainment like puppetry,

nautanki, ragini, bhangra, qaualli and traditional dance shows to increase the brand experience. The

companies can develop a story line relating to the brand and show the characters using the brands for their

advantage and even the dresses of the characters can be that of the brand‟s packaging.



The Lowe Lintas „s database covering 5.96 lakh villages over 459 districts suggest the best places to undertake

a brand promotion. The recent example of adopting a railway station by Titan during Kumbha mela helped

them to generate a high brand recall as for each arrival of the train the announcement was made “Welcome to

Sonata-Naini”. The extensive network of postal and medical workers throughout the country can be used as

an alternative vehicle for brand promotion in the rural areas. The days are not far when the postbox, post

office walls and the postman‟s dress will carry the logo and brand names of companies, the walls of the rural

primary health centers, the schools will be covered by suitable brand advertising catering to the taste of the

rural target market. Once innovation in reaching through alternate cost effective media begins, the rural

consumption will increase making it potentially more attractive than the urban market.



Latest Data & Statistics

Service Provider wise market Share as on 30-04-2010

Mobile penetration as on Jun 2009 for each circle

Circle Category Mobile Penetration

Delhi Metro 138%

Mumbai Metro 112%

Kolkata Metro 102%

Maharashtra A 37%

Gujarat A 45%

Andhra Pradesh A 41%

Karnataka A 46%

Tamil Nadu A 52%

Kerala B 55%

Punjab B 56%

Haryana B 44%

Uttar Pradesh (W) B 31%

Uttar Pradesh (E) B 24%

Rajasthan B 40%

Madhya Pradesh B 25%

West Bengal B 24%

Himachal Pradesh C 55%

Bihar C 20%

Orissa C 27%

Assam C 22%

North East C 29%

Jammu & Kashmir C 37%



Telecom Subscription Data as on 28th February 2009

Total Telephone subscriber base reaches 413.85 Million

Wireless subscription reaches 376.12 Million

13.44 Million new additions in wireless

Overall Tele-density reaches 35.65

Telecom Subscription Data as on 30th

April 2010

Total Telephone subscriber base reaches 638.05 Million

Wireless subscription reaches 601.22 Million

16.90 Million new additions in wireless

Overall Tele-density reaches 54.10

Total Subscriber base (Maharashtra-Goa Circle) – 44,461,241 (Excluding Mumbai)

Idea Cellular customer base- 9,556,791 Idea’s Market Share (%) - 21.66 % (Feb 10)

Tata Customer base- 7,962,366 Idea’s Market Share (%) – 21.49 % (Apr 10)

Vodafone customer base- 7,395,688

Reliance- 7,475,986

Airtel customer base- 6,654,899

Aircel customer base- 420,987

BSNL- 4,989,137



Project Objective and Methodology

The title of the project assigned as part of the Summer Internship at Idea Cellular was “Reaching Rural at low

cost to increase brand awareness & visibility”.

The primary objective of the project was to understand the changing media consumption habits of the rural

customers. Although traditional media options like TV, radio have penetrated into the rural hinterland by a

great percentage, there remains a question on its impact on the rural customers. The rural community is still a

closely knit community and takes a lot of decisions on collective reasoning. A lot of their buying decision

behaviors are more interactive and experience based.

The project scope also included suggesting new & innovative ways of reaching the rural population to

increase the brand salience for Idea Cellular Vis-à-vis its competitors.

The methodology followed included preparation of a comprehensive questionnaire which could help in

understanding their daily media consumption. It more pertained to an exploratory research.



Field Visit Observations

Buldhana & Jalgaon District

On the way to Khamgaon from Malkapur nothing significant in terms of visibility was seen for any telecom

operator except BSNL. Nandura was a transit village town and there were three wall paintings seen from the

highway for Idea cellular.

Idea cellular was the only operator to have such a visibility in that region. BSNL had small shelters along the

highway at every 2-3 Kms ensuring constant brand visibility throughout the highway. The shelters looked to

be infrastructure support terminals for the landlines in villages.

Also all the bus shelters were painted by Kribhco brand throughout the village. Bus stands for villages off the

highway road were present every 2-3 Kms and hence also giving constant visibility.



Khamgaon village town didn‟t have too much of brand visibility for any major cellular operator. MTS and Virgin

mobiles had given signage boards on shops as mediums of retail branding. Retail shops around the Khamgaon city

had streamers, small signage boards and POP‟s for Idea Cellular. The signage boards were also seen to be lying on

the roof tops of some shops or got hidden behind other signage boards. This resulted in loss of the investment

made to install those boards at retail outlets.

Jalgaon (Jamod) was travelled to from Khamgaon. It is a taluka in Buldhana district adjoining the MP border. On

the way to Jalgaon (Jamod) by state highway, one observation was that BSNL had put up small boards at the start

of every village giving the Village name and welcoming the visitor and also at the end of every village to wish the

visitors a safe onward journey. The village town of Jalgaon (Jamod) had fairly good visibility for Idea Cellular.

Retail shops had appropriate POP material and Signage‟s to make the presence felt for Idea brand. However one

concern was that boards at shops had got stolen once the shop was closed at the end of the day.



The distributor at Jalgaon (Jamod) also had its shop painted by Idea Cellular. The shop being at the heart of the

city market provided good visibility for the brand to local village population. Also nearby there was a fruit and

village market for the town and resulted in good amount of people coming to the place. One of the retailers

selling multiple connections had put up a stall nearby the market. According to the Territory Sales Executive

there, new activations increase by 100% when there is such a market in the village town.



On interacting with the people, retailers and sales people, I came to know that they have been growing operational

issues in the town region. One of the customers that I interacted with as a part of the survey said that he had first

been using Idea cellular but have now switched to Vodafone as he was not able to make a call through Idea. The

network always remained congested and also had major call drop issues. Three regions nearby the village town of

Jalgaon (Jamod) have serious network problems:

1. Jamod

2. Sangrampur

3. Madakhed

Such issues have resulted in loss business and brand image for Idea cellular and needs to be addressed at the

earliest. Retailers are stocking less of Idea vouchers and V top up balance due to lower demand from customers

for the same and also due to increasing problem of form rejection. As per retailers 15-20% forms are getting

rejected which is not the case with other cellular service providers.



Weekly bazaars at villages offer a good opportunity for Idea cellular to increase its brand awareness and

visibility. Local weekly bazaar days for the regions are:

1. Nandura- Monday

2. Khamgaon- Thursday

3. Asalgaon- Tuesday

Also important festivals in Buldhana district include

1. Sharif Sailani ShahMiya Urs at Pimpalgaon

2. Sarai Mahasiddha Baba Fair at Dhanora

3. Shri Balaji Fair at Deulgaon Raja

I also got an opportunity to visit the weekly bazaar at Asalgaon. It was a huge market setup and had

everything from a pin to a cart which a villager needs to live comfortably. It had people coming in from 50

nearby towns and villages to buy. It could be a potential place to increase sales and brand awareness by

having some kind of interactive marketing initiatives targeted there.



Travelling from Khamgaon to Jalgaon on the NH6 gave a good opportunity to observe the wall paintings done

by Idea Cellular. I could find more than 10-15 wall paintings spanning the 140 Km distance between

Khamgaon and Jalgaon.

Jalgaon city had an average visibility. However one creative and unique medium observed was used by

Vodafone. It had its boards on all the traffic light poles across the city having messages suggesting following

basic traffic rules.



Raver and Nimbhore budruk village towns were covered from Jalgaon. The visibility along the route was

again impressive with lots of wall paintings visible along the route while travelling by bus. Wall paintings

had been done in the smallest of villages on the route.

The in shop branding at Raver and Nimbhore budruk was also very good. The signage boards could be seen

on the shops. Requisite POP materials and posters were put up inside the shop.



Nimbhore budruk town also had operational problems. There was 1-2 hr signal blackout generally during

evenings. Also there were call drop complaints at nights due to extreme congestion. These problems were only

coming since last 2 months. Also there was a perception amongst the customers of Idea being costly which was

a little surprising since Idea has been a value for money offering throughout.

Idea was the first operator to setup cellular operations in that region and hence enjoys maximum presence,

however due to above said operational problems Vodafone and Airtel can give stiff competition in the coming

months.

The weekly markets in the Nimbhore Budruk region happen on:

1. Raver- Friday

2. Nimbhore budruk- Thursday

On the way back to Pune from Jalgaon, there was good amount of wall paintings done along the highway.

This was found mostly after the Aurangabad city. However Tata Indicom had a very impressive presence

across the highway. They had painted every shop in clusters of 3-4 along the highway and at regular intervals.

Also along the road near the army cantonment area in Aurangabad, Tata Indicom had put boards around the

trees planted.



Solapur

The region was seen to be very weak in terms of branding and visibility for Idea Cellular. There is no

merchandiser for Idea Cellular at Solapur. As a result competitor companies like Vodafone, Airtel, and

Reliance have a very strong visibility across the city retail stores with billboards, Posters, Danglers, and

Streamers etc. across retail stores in the city. The ratio was 1:5 for Idea Vs other brands. A few Idea posters

were visible on the poles along the road. After 4-5 poles, some other brand was visible. Some poles on the

extreme roadside had Idea on it but it was not visible that much.

There were only three places in the Solapur city where any sort of Idea branding was found as depicted in the

images below. These were also limited to the area where Idea office was located near Dufferin Chowk.



Two talukas South Solapur and Akkalkot were surveyed during this visit. Along the NH13, Vodafone and

Airtel have gone very aggressive and almost every retail shop has a signage board.



The maximum that could be seen for Idea Cellular was the streamers and shelf stickers. Idea is the leading

name in mobile service providers. No brand visibility was observed along the NH13 highway and NH9

highway where Airtel and Vodafone have gone extremely aggressive. Every shop has been branded by both of

them. POP‟s, danglers and other in shop posters were also dominated by Virgin, Vodafone and Airtel. The

maximum seen for Idea was shelf strip stickers. Along the NH13 highway, every retailer asked for a board as

they were selling INR 40000+ business for Idea but did not have any branding of it. It more seemed as a craze

for them.

For the Akkalkot region not much was seen in terms of visibility for any Service provider brand.

Primary issue was the late delivery of vouchers and recharge coupons. The courier company delivers the order

after 4-5 days from the order date.

Two wall paintings were seen on the route to Mandrup region. One of the unique medium observed was that

Vodafone had put up sign boards for the Auto rickshaw stands across Solapur.

Sankratra is big mela festival in Solapur. It happens in the month of January and lasts for 3-4 weeks.

1. Weekly bazaar in Mandrup happens on Friday

2. Weekly bazaar in Wadasang happens on Wednesday

The Idea point in Akkalkot had a very good in shop branding, however the shop was on the first floor of the

building and there was no signage telling that the Idea point was there in the building.



Every household had access to DTH in the villages. 90% of the villagers own a mobile phone (Atleast 1 in

the family). Most mobiles were dual-sim mobile phones. 60-65% villagers had 3-4 sim cards of different

operators. The primary usage was Idea of course.

They do hear the radio all day long but don‟t really focus on it. The largest circulated paper is Lokmatt. The

other two are Pudhari and Sakaal. However they do not pay much attention to ads given in the papers.TV is a

very attractive medium for them. Most of them could recall the Save tress Ad by Idea. There is no electricity

throughout the day. Most attractive time to advertise could be the evening for higher probability of ads being

viewed.

I could find 3-4 old boards of Idea cellular at different locations where the retailer no longer existed. If we

could somehow collect these boards, recycle them to have the new Idea logo and put it on for the retailers.

Nashik

Moving along the NH 60 from Pune to Nashik, Idea brand had excellent visibility with the help of wall

paintings. Along the 185 Km stretch from Pune to Sinnar, Idea wall paintings were seen after every 2-3 Km

which translated into atleast 60-65 paintings along the stretch. After sinnar, only 3-4 paintings were seen upto

Nashik.



Dindora district was travelled to from Nashik. Village town of Vani was also covered from there. The bus

stand at Vavi had a big wall painting done and caught the attention even when I was not looking for it.

Although no wall paintings were seen along the route however the two village towns had very good in-shop

branding for Idea cellular. Shelf stickers, streamers and other PoP material had been put up inside the shops.

One of the issues at Vani was that there was mostly a strong wind that blew across the village town and most

of the signage boards put up by Idea cellular ended up in a mess. Also the upcountry distributor complained of

upcountry retailers not having signage boards. The town retailers had two-three of the same.



I also did visit the Sonjamb gram Panchayat. The walls offer a potential location for wall painting to enable

direct visibility to rural population.

The rural villages around 10 Km range from Vani also had good visibility in terms of shop branding.



Local market / weekly bazaar happen on the following days:

1. Dindori- Sunday

2. Vani- Tuesday

Shirdi was also covered as part of the rural trip. The state highway to shirdi had nothing to offer for Idea

cellular. Airtel had done a lot of wall painting on the way which was significant in the sense that Shirdi being

a place of religious importance attracted thousands of visitors from across India.

There is also a very famous Devi ka mandir atop a hill in Vani and attracts a lot of rural visitors. Idea can tap

this route to the mandir to increase the impact of Idea Cellular branding.



Survey Results

Population size: 100

Districts: Jalgaon, Buldhana, Solapur, Nashik

Of the 100 people that could be surveyed during the two month training period, 36% people said that weekly

bazaar medium is the most likely to affect the purchase decision. Next in line came the retailer reference as

the village community is a closely knit community and hence almost every person is known to the other one.

There is a big trust build up due to this kind of social environment.

72% people also said that non traditional medium of communication is more effective than the traditional

media such as newspaper, television and radio. Though TV had a penetration of more than 50% in the

36%

18%

16%

12%10%4%

4%

Most likely to affect purchase decision

Weekly bazaar

Ref by Retailer

Television

Cyclerickshaw campaigns

Poster

Launch Promotion

0102030405060708090

100

Non Traditional e.g Weekly bazaar

Traditional media e.g Newspaper

72

28

Effective Communication Medium



places surveyed, however the decision maker of the house i.e. Man is generally out for work throughout the

day and 7 days a week. He prefers to eat and sleep once he gets back from work. He does not have the

inclination to entertain himself after the long day at work. Also more than 40% of the population cannot

read and write and hence does not refer to advertisements given in the newspapers. Radio is something that

runs throughout the day without paying too much attention to it.

80% of the villagers gave a positive response towards the company which invests in CSR activities and

helps the rural folk better their lives.

One of the major findings from the survey was that the perception of Idea Cellular being a value for money

offering is fading away. Consumers are beginning to feel that Idea connection is a costlier alternative to

other operators. It is recommended that there is concerted effort on part of the Product team, VAS team and

the Marketing Communication team to reposition the brand image of Idea cellular as a common man‟s

mobile connection. Also there were several complaints regarding the multiple customer service numbers

for different queries and gave unnecessary jitters to the rural consumer.

One more insight from the survey yielded that the retail point visibility impacts the consumer more than the

media visibility. Many consumers felt that aggressive retail visibility by companies like Vodafone and

Airtel made them to believe that these connections were more progressive and better as compared to Idea

cellular and could result in greater churn factor for Idea cellular.

Also the major reason for choosing Idea for most customers is its quality and availability. These two must

be carefully dealt with to offset any competition from operators like Vodafone, Airtel and others. Of the 4

districts surveyed, two had persistent problems on the above said important parameters and resulted in

negative sentiment towards the company.

80%

10%

10%

CSR Activity attracts you more towards the Company

& its products

Yes

No

Can't say



The survey also showed that Friends and Family are the most effective medium for communication of new

product/services launched in the market. However, it should be noted that the other two mediums i.e.

Retailer and Market needs to tapped more vigorously on part of the company to increase its revenue from

new, innovative and user friendly products launched from time to time.

16

34

22

4

16

8

05

10152025303540

Information on New products/services



Recommendations

1. One medium with high potential to reach the rural customers effectively could be utilizing the Bus stand

at small village towns. There is a radio announcement which happens at every bus stand at periodic

intervals. If Idea could also use the recording medium which could say something like “Idea welcomes

you to xyz Bus stand, Enjoy seamless coverage with Mahrashtra’s No. 1 cellular operator” which

could follow or precede the bus announcements. Also there could be our branding materials at these

small village town bus stands. Maximum rural people use these bus stands only.

Implementation

Idea could either use the benchmarking of the population numbers or could select the village towns that

are growing grounds for other cellular operators to paint the bus shelters or effectively utilizing the

above said radio announcement option.

2. Gram Panchayats are also very potential places/locations to do wall painting. Generally gram

Panchayats are located at the centre of the village town. By definition, a gram Panchayat is located in a

village having population of above 500 and in case if the population is below that then two or more

villages are combined to form a Gram Panchayat.

Implementation

Data mining can help Idea in getting data of gram Panchayats in towns with population of more than

5000. LUT‟s can also be targeted at first for such wall paintings. There are in total, 27832 Gram

Panchayat‟s in Maharashtra.

District Total

population

Urban

Population

Rural

population

No. of

talukas

Total no.

of

Villages

Total

number of

Gram

Panchayats

Jalgaon 3,679,936 2,627,315

(74%)

1,052,621

(28.6%) 15 1150 783

Buldhana 2,232,480 473,286

(21.2%)

1,759,194

(78.8%) 13 1297 1061

Solapur 3,849,543 1,225,284

(31.8%)

2,624,259

(68.2%) 11 1143 1027

Osmanabad 1,486,586 233,256

(15.7%)

1,253,330

(84.3%) 11 1423 912

Latur 2,080,285 490,261

(23.6%)

1,590,024

(76.4%) 10 945 786

Sangli 2,583,524 633,031

(24.5%)

1,948,804

(75.5%) 10 731 705

Kolhapur 3,515,413 1,042,320

(29.65%)

2,473,093

(70.35%) 9 969 815



Sindhudurg 868,825 78,194

(9%)

790,631

(91%) 9 743 433

Ratnagiri 1,696,777 192,141

(11.3%)

1,504,636

(88.7%) 9 1541 1439

Raigad 2,207,929 534,835

(24.2%)

1,673,094

(75.8%) 15 1859 818

Satara 2,796,906 398,141

(14.2%)

2,398,765

(85.8%) 11 1707 1487

Pune 7,224,224 4,195,385

(58.1%)

3,028,839

(41.9%) 13 1177 1049

Ahmednagar 4,088,077 803,597

(58.1%)

3,284,480

(41.9%) 14 1581 1435

Beed 2,160,000 387,000

(17.9%)

1,773,000

(82.1%) 11 1365 1018

Nashik 4,987,923 1,937,002

(38.8%)

3,050,921

(61.2%) 15 1931 1373

Aurangabad 2,897,013 1,087,150

(37.5%)

1,809,863

(62.5%) 9 1344 852

Parbhani 1,491,109 485,013

(32.5%)

1,006,096

(67.5%) 9 852 772

Jalna 1,612,357 307,516

(19.1%)

1,304,841

(80.9%) 8 970 779

Dhule 1,708,993 445,554

(26.1%)

1,263,439

(73.9%) 4 681 546

Nandurbar 1,311,709 202,659

(15.45%)

1,109,050

(84.55%) 6 947 473

Akola 1,630,239 627,497

(38.5%)

1,002,742

(61.5%) 6 1009 541

Nanded 2,868,158 811,402

(28.29%)

2,056,756

(61.5%) 16 1572 1313

Hingoli 987,160 154,030

(15.6%)

833,130

(84.4%) 5 711 565

Washim 1,020,216 178,445

(17.5%)

841,771

(82.5%) 5 789 493

Yavatmal 2,077,000 357,000

(17.2%)

1,720,000

(82.8%) 16 2117 1204

Wardha 1,230,640 309,696

(25.17%)

921,244

(74.83%) 8 1361 512

Amravati 2,607,160 899,579

(34.5%)

1,707,581

(65.5%) 14 1679 724

Nagpur 4,051,444 2,607,362

(64.4%)

1,444,082

(35.6%) 14 1874 778

Chandrapur 2,077,909 672,676

(32.4%)

1,405,233

(67.6%) 15 1575 815

Gadchiroli 969,960 67,250

(7%)

902,710

(93%) 12 1688 467

Bhandara 1,135,835 175,352

(15.4%)

960,483

(84.6%) 8 870 541

Gondia 1,200,151 143,405

(12%)

1,056,746

(88%) 7 954 556

Towns which have a population above 10,000 can be used for painting bus shelters and below 10,000 can

be used for Gram Panchayat walls ensuring a two pronged strategy for greater visibility.



3. The rural customers are very fond of entertainment. If Idea cellular could start a pilot initiative where

very popular movies of the last five years could be showcased to rural people under the series “Idea

film festival”. Let it be an initiative at talukas headquarters as they are generally well connected. We

could showcase our TV advertisements during short breaks between movies which would help in

better brand recall. Also there is a Sonu Nigam concert happening in Jalgaon soon. Idea could exploit

this opportunity since it‟s surely going to be a big crowd puller. Contact numbers are 09372168080,

08956980819.

4. We could also have some benchmark for giving signage‟s and boards for retail points. It could set

upwards of Rs 50000+ per month. This might also imbibe a competitive spirit amongst retailers to

have boards.

Implementation

In working with close coordination with the business intelligence team of Idea cellular, information

about retailers giving business more than the set threshold criteria can found where till date there have

been no boards given. Also deep rural areas should be given boards which are lower in cost to the

company e.g. the wooden frame support ones. With the help of sales staff,

5. There are also places where our boards tend to be not visible at retail outlets or have been discarded off

on the roof. We could have our own man or have a collaborative effort with the Sales team to place the

displaced boards in correct positions. Come out with some way to utilize or recycle the minor damaged

boards.

6. We can also come up with a concept of “Idea Choupal”. It‟s going be a place in the village where

most people usually sit and talk (for e.g. The Panchayat gram). It‟s a place where we try and make

people think about problems and hence find solutions. The Choupal will have posters of campaigns

which have been launched by Idea (Save tress, every person will be known by a number, People

responses to Govt policies through SMS, walk when you talk). Sensitize people against wasting water,

saving electricity, fuel.

Also reinforce the fact that Idea is the best operator in Rural Maharashtra and propel its Son of the Soil

image through this initiative.

Idea can also involve the government in advertising it‟s save the girl child, NREGS and other public

centric programs through this Choupal. As from a business perspective, the distributor can have a stall

there to get new customers also do recharges. This Choupal can also have Idea PCO phones. This can

be tried as a pilot project in LUT regions.



7. Also I could find that small pickup trucks were used by villagers to sell off their produce of the season

in the market. If Idea could brand this pick trucks to actually give and impression to the people that it

is Idea that has launched such an initiative to help local people. The truck would also provide

immediate visibility across the highway and also in the market. It would certainly give a positive

image of the company to the customer and would help in better brand recall.

Implementation

Farmers use local private transport to take their produce and sell in the market. These private

contractors generally run 4-5 vehicles on the highways. If Idea could tie up with 1-2 contractors, give

them an incentive to paint their vehicles with Idea logo. It‟s even possible for Idea to have custom

made stick posters for these vehicles and hence get greater visibility.

8. The postal department has the maximum reach when it comes to accessing rural India. If we could

locate and brand the post collection boxes and the post offices in villages, it can directly affect Idea

brand recall and visibility.

Implementation

The post-collection boxes are mostly wall mounted or are fixed to the ground. Idea could wall paint

the section above & below the box if it‟s hanging. Also in partnership with the Maharashtra postal

department, post collection boxes around Maharashtra can be painted again but will now carry the Idea

logo on it in the form of a strip. The paint cost will be borne by Idea however in return Idea would be

allowed a space at the bottom of the collection box.

9. Rural customers generally are very god believing people. Hence, throughout Maharashtra there would

be places of worship near a cluster of villages which would attract a lot of people from nearby village

towns in big numbers. The route to these places of worship as well as the place offer a potential

branding space for Idea cellular.

Implementation

Idea could start with the wall painting of the route to the place of worship. The wall painting would

start 2-3 Kms from the place to have a greater probability of visibility. Mostly people tend to doze off

till the destination is near and hence if the wall paintings are visible 2-3 kms from the destination

(worship place), they are more likely to observe the same. Also the paintings should be alternating on

both sides of the roads. On reaching the religious place, Idea could partner either with the Mandir trust

to have sign boards welcoming the people to the place of worship. This should be ideally be located at

the entry point of the mandir. Also Idea should make sure that the retail points have good branding in

terms of signage boards, in shop PoP materials at such places.



References

1. Dhumal M N, Tayade A., Khandkar A, Rural Marketing-Understanding the Consumer Behavior and

Decision Process

2. Dr. Narendran Menon, Suresh K, Customization of Marketing Mix for Rural Markets, RM86-04-006,

Marketing to rural consumers-Understanding and tapping the rural market potential, Apr 2008

3. Dr. Tapan K Panda, IIMA, Wooing the rural customers!, The Hindu, Jul 2001

4. Ghosh A, Aggarwal V, Marwaha , Mar 2009, Telecom Infrastructure in India, ICRA Rating feature

5. Goyal V, Suman P., Consulting Club, IIM C, The Indian Telecom Industry

6. Mirchandani R, Evolving a New Marketing Mix for selling to rural Indians

7. Press release No. 15/2010, TRAI, New Delhi, Mar 2010

8. VNL, Mar 2009, Bringing Telecom to Rural India

9. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Telecom//articleshow/5833954.cms

10. http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/tv_advertising_budgets_are_under_siege/q/id/56384/t/2

11. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Telecom//articleshow/5830019.cms

12. http://www.ideacellular.com

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Telecom/articleshow/5833954.cms

http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/tv_advertising_budgets_are_under_siege/q/id/56384/t/2

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Telecom/articleshow/5830019.cms



Appendix-I

Questionnaire

1. Name _______________________________________________

2. Gender ______________________________________________

3. Age _________________________________________________

4. Number of people in the family __________________________

5. Do you own a mobile phone? ___________________________

6. What made you choose this mobile phone over other phones?

a. Brand

b. Price

c. Easy availability

d. Product features

e. Advertisement & Promotions

7. Which mobile connection are you using? ________________________

8. Why did you choose this connection over other connections?

a. Advertisement & Promotions

b. Quality

c. Value for money/Price

d. Easy availability

e. Customer service

9. Do you think brand is much important than other parameters like price, availability etc. when you are buying a product/service?

a. Yes b. No.

10. Where do you stay? ________________________________________________________ Which is the most aggressively promoted service provider brand there? ______________ What medium of communication does it use? ___________________________________ 11. Do you get attracted to these mediums? _______________________________________

What in particular attracts you to those brand promotions? ________________________



12. Rank the mobile service providers in order of preference?

a._______________________

b._______________________

c._______________________

13. Can you recall any promotion of Idea Cellular? What medium was used for the same?

______________________________________________________________________

14. Which of the below are most likely to affect your purchase decision?

a. Television b. Radio c. Newspaper d. Wall paintings e. Cinema f. Launch promotions g. Weekly bazaar h. Cycle & Rickshaw mounted campaigns i. Reference by retailer j. Poster k. Nukkad naatak/Puppet show

15. Where do you get information regarding any new product or service launched in the market?

Retailers Friends and family

Visit to the market Outdoor Advertisements

TV Newspaper

Other _____________________________

16. Do you think if a company uses Weekly market, Puppet show, wall paintings to advertise their product instead

of usual mediums like TV, Radio etc, you would still go ahead and try the product?

a. Yes

b. No.

17. Do you think social media marketing can influence you into buying a product?

a. Yes

b. No



18. If you purchase a 2nd connection for yourself today, would you buy the same connection again?

a. Yes, why _________________________

b. No, why _________________________

19. Which is the source of entertainment for your family? _____________________________

For your village people? _____________________________________________________

If companies advertise through these entertainment sources, would you buy the product?

a. Yes

b. No

20. Where do all the people from your village and nearby villages meet up together on some

Occasion or festival? ________________________________________________________

What is the most celebrated festival in your region & When? _________________________

21. Do you visit the weekly bazaar in your area? ______________________________________

If companies come and sell you their products in such markets, would be tempted to buy?

a. Yes

b. No

22. Which is the largest circulated newspaper in your region? ____________________________ 23. Which section do you read mostly in the paper? ____________________________________

Do you pay attention to the advertisements in the papers? ___________________________ 24. How regularly do you listen to Radio?

a. Regularly b. Occasionally c. Never

25. How much time do you spend listening to radio in a day?

a. One hour and above b. 30 mins – 1 hr c. Less than 30 mins

26. Which radio station do you regularly tune into? ____________________________________

27. What do you usually listen on the radio? __________________________________________



28. How regularly do you watch television? a. Regularly b. Occasionally c. Never 29. How much time do you spend on television in a day? a. >1 hr b. 30 mins- 1 Hr c. <30 mins 30. Which channels do you watch regularly? __________________________________________ 31. What do you do during the day/weekends? How do you keep yourself entertained?

________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________

32. A CSR activity of a company attracts you more towards the company and its products? a. Yes b. No 33. Do you think wall paintings make an impact on you to recall a brand? a. Yes b. No 34. Any comments/suggestions about Idea cellular?

________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________



1. नाभ _______________________________________________

2. लर ॊग ______________________________________________

3. उम्र _________________________________________________

4. ऩरयवाय भें रोगों की सॊख्मा ? __________________________

5. क्मा आऩके ऩास भोफाइर पोन है? ___________________________

6. अन्म भोफाइर पोन के साभने इस पोन को आऩने क्मयॊ चुना?

a. ब्ाॊड

b. भयल्म

c. आसान उऩरब्धता d. उत्ऩाद सवुवधाएॉ/भखुाकृतत

e. ववऻाऩन औय प्रचाय

7. आऩ कौनसे भोफाइर कनेक्शन का प्रमोग कय यहे हैं. ________________________

8. अन्म भोफाइर कनेक्शन के साभने आऩने इस कनेक्शन को क्मयॊ चुना?

a. ववऻाऩन औय प्रचाय

b. गणुवत्ता c. ऩसेै के लरए भयल्म / भयल्म

d. आसान उऩरब्धता e. ग्राहक सेवा

9. क्मा आऩको रगता है के अन्म भानकों जैस ेकीभत, उऩरब्धता आदद की तरुना भें ब्ाॊड ज्मादा भहत्वऩयणण है ?

a. हाॊ b. नह ॊ.

10. आऩ कहाॉ यहत ेहो? ________________________________________________________

वहाॉ कौन सा सफसे आक्राभक ऩदोन्नत सेवा प्रदाता ब्ाॊड है? ______________

कौन से सॊचाय भाध्मभ का उऩमोग कयता है मह? ___________________________________

11. क्मा आऩको इन भाध्मभों ने आकवषणत ककमा? ______________________________________

उन ब्ाॊड ऩदोन्नतत भें क्मा ववशषे आकषणण रगा आऩको? ________________________



12. भोफाइर सेवा प्रदाताओॊ को यैंक भें डालरए ?

a._______________________

b._______________________ c._______________________

13. क्मा आऩ ककसी आइडडमा सेररुय ऩदोन्नतत को माद कय सकत ेहैं? क्मा भाध्मभ इस्तभेार ककमा था आइडडमा ने?

______________________________________________________________________

14. नीचे से कौन सी सॊबावना आऩके खय द कयने के तनणणम को सफसे अधधक प्रबाववत कयती है?

a. दययदशणन

b. येडडमो c. अख़फाय

d. लबवत्तधचत्र

e. लसनेभा f. रॉन्च प्रचाय

g. साप्तादहक फाजाय

h. साइककर औय रयक्शा अलबमान घडु़सवाय

i. पुटकय बफक्री के द्वाया सॊदबण j. ऩोस्टय

k. नकु्कड़ नाटक / कठऩतुर शो

15. आऩको फाजाय भें ककसी बी नई सेवा मा उत्ऩाद सॊफॊधधत जानकाय कहाॉ से लभरती है?

खुदया ववके्रताओॊ लभत्रों औय ऩरयवाय

क्मात्रा कयने के लरए फाजाय आउटडोय ववऻाऩन

ट वी न्मयजऩेऩसण

अन्म _____________________________

16. क्मा आऩको रगता है कक अगय एक कॊ ऩनी ट वी, येडडमो आदद साभान्म भाध्मभों के फजाम द वाय धचत्रों, साप्तादहक फाजाय, कठऩतुर शो का उऩमोग अऩने उत्ऩाद का ववऻाऩन कयने के लरए कयती है तो आऩ उसके उत्ऩाद का प्रमोग कयके देख्नगे?े

a. हाॊ b. नह ॊ.



17. क्मा आऩको रगता है कक साभाजजक भीडडमा ववऩणन (भाकेदटॊग) एक उत्ऩाद को खय दने भें प्रबाववत कय सकत ेहैं?

a. हाॊ b. नह ॊ

18. अगय आऩ आज अऩने लरए एक 2nd कनेक्शन खय द्दत ेहैं, तो वो वह होगा जो आऩ अबी इस्तभेार कय यहे हैं?

a. हाॉ, क्मों _________________________

b. नह ॊ, क्मों _________________________

19. आऩके ऩरयवाय के लरए भनोयॊजन का क्मा स्रोत है? _____________________________

आऩके गाॊव के रोगों के लरए? _____________________________________________________

इन भनोयॊजन सयत्रों भें ववऻाऩन के भाध्मभ से आऩ खय दने के लरए

प्रबाववत होंग?े?


20. कुछ अवसय मा त्मौहाय ऩय नज़द क गाॊवों के सबी रोग गाॊव भें कहाॉ एकत्र होत े

हैं? ___________________________________________________

आऩके गाॊव भें सफसे भनामा जाने वारा त्मौहाय ?_________________________

21. क्मा आऩ अऩने साप्तादहक फाजाय ऺते्र भें मात्रा कयत ेहैं? ______________________________________

इस तयह के फाजायों भें अगय कॊ ऩतनमों के आने औय अऩने उत्ऩादों के फेचने से आऩ खय दने के लरए

प्रबाववत होंग?े


22. अऩने ऺेत्र कौन सा है सफसे फड़ा अखफाय ऩरयचालरत? ____________________________

23. जो अनबुाग कागज भें ज्मादातय तभु ऩढा है? ____________________________________

क्मा आऩ कागज भें ववऻाऩनों के बगुतान कयने के लरए ध्मान? ___________________________

24. कैसे तनमलभत रूऩ से येडडमो सनुने तभु?

a. तनमलभत

b. कबी कबी c. कबी नह ॊ



25. आऩ ककतना सभम एक ददन भें येडडमो सनुने भें खचण कयत ेहैं?

a. एक घॊटा औय ऊऩय

b. 30 लभनट - 1 घॊटा c. कभ से कभ 30 लभनट

26. कौन सी येडडमो स्टेशन तनमलभत रूऩ से सनुने कयत ेहैं आऩ? __________________________

27. आभतौय ऩय क्मा सनुने कयत ेहैं आऩ येडडमो ऩय? ___________________________________

28. कैसे रूऩ से ट वी देखत ेतभु?

a. तनमलभत

b. कबी कबी c. कबी नह ॊ

29. आऩ ककतना सभम एक ददन भें ट वी ऩय खचण कयत ेहैं?

a. > 1 घॊटा b. 30 लभनट-1 Hr

c. <30 लभनट

30. जो तनमलभत रूऩ से चैनरों देखना कयत ेतभु? ______________________________________

31. वीकें ड/ददन के दौयान आऩ क्मा कयत ेहैं? आऩ कैसे अऩने आऩ का भनोयॊजन कयत ेहो?

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

32. आऩ को एक सीएसआय गततववधध कॊ ऩनी औय कॊ ऩनी उत्ऩादों की औय अधधक आकवषणत कयती है?


33. क्मा आऩ लबवत्त – धचत्र (wall paintings) से प्रबाववत होत ेहैं?


34. आइडडमा सेररुय के फाये भें दटप्ऩणी/ सझुाव?

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Project Report-Dhruv Srivastava

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Transcript of Project Report-Dhruv Srivastava